Language: English
The first description and record of oribatid mites from India was through the work of Pearce (1906) from Sikkim Himalaya. He described and reported 20 species distributed over 12 genera out of which 12 were already known from Great Britain. Later Ewing (1910) described two species of oribatid mites from Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu. Since then, nearly 50 Indian and a few foreign scientists have been working on this group of mites. The need for preparation of a catalogue of Indian oribatid mites is a prerequisite for any further studies on these mites.
The present catalogue is the revised checklist of Indian oribatid mites listing 178 species, 118 genera and 56 families, authored by Sanyal and Bhaduri (1986). As of March 2018, a total of 789 species/subspecies (including 179 undetermined species) under 265 genera/subgenera and 95 families are known from India, wherea the worldwide totals are 10,826 species under 1269 genera and 164 families.